Yokai (28 page)

Oni-Baba turned her foot first left,
then right. As she did so, Yumiko examined the yokai. She was still
dressed as a geisha, and seemed all female elegance at a glance.
But as she moved, and looked at things, Oni-Baba gave away what she
truly was, with cunning, cruel eyes and impatience. Crudely,
Oni-Baba cleared her throat and spit into the palm of her hand,
then rubbed her hands together and laid them over Yumiko’s hurt
ankle.

Yumiko scowled and looked away, trying
not to think about the slippery feeling of Oni-Baba’s saliva as it
was smeared over her flesh.

“
There,” Oni-Baba said,
dropping her foot unceremoniously and standing up. “Now, move
it.”

Yumiko frowned and gently tested her
foot on the ground, putting little pressure on it at first. When
she found that no pain radiated from it, she stood up and pushed
her full weight against it. It was like she’d never been hurt in
the first place. She turned an impressed gaze on Oni-Baba, who
tried to appear as if she didn’t find satisfaction in the look, but
Yumiko noted that the witch held her head a little higher after
that, and seemed more confident than before.

Yumiko found the mountain pass leading
up to the castle to be much less appealing with frigid temperatures
made even colder by a brisk wind. After walking the pass in the
mirror world, it was strange to experience it with sound and
sensation, but Yumiko decided that the howling of the wind did
little to improve its beauty. Even less impressive was the
courtyard of the castle. Instead of a clean, bustling area, this
one was filled with filth. Bones, picked clean of flesh, lay strewn
about the cobblestone streets, discarded and forgotten, and
resembling bones that Yumiko knew were normally found in human
beings. The fountains burbled with blood, water no longer pouring
from the neglected spouts. Everything was dirty and disheveled,
many of the buildings missing doors or with broken windows that no
one had bothered to fix. It was a pigsty. It stunk of rotten meat
and death. In short, it was the sort of place one imagined monsters
would live.

An escort of two dozen oni marched
Yumiko, two humans, two female yokai, a kappa, and a raccoon-dog
through the halls of the castle, which, while cleaner than the
courtyard, was still filthy with dirt and cobwebs.

There had been no word on Enenra, and
as Oni-Baba hadn’t mentioned him, Yumiko held out hope that he had
somehow escaped Shuten-Doji’s grasp. It would appear that the yokai
made of smoke might be their only hope, which left Yumiko feeling
rather pessimistic.

“
Your pretty friend will
keep me young for months,” Oni-Baba noted, jarring Yumiko from her
thoughts, before the witch sent a knowing look Reina’s way. “Such
soft skin and beautiful features.”

Yumiko swallowed hard, trying hard not
to take her bait and give her the satisfaction of a reaction. And
truly, she didn’t want to think of Reina’s lifeblood rejuvenating
this monster.

“
You might want to act fast
then,” Reina spoke up, causing Yumiko to groan inwardly. “You’re
starting to look a little rough around the edges, you old
hag.”

Oni-Baba cackled, sounding
delighted. “Yes, I might bleed that one for days.” She winked at
Yumiko. “And, of course, this lovely souvenir will go right on my
wall, in remembrance of you, my dear.” She held Yumiko’s mirror
sword up triumphantly. “
You
won’t be needing it anymore, after
all.”

Yumiko clenched her jaw as they were
led up to a doorway at the end of the hall. Two silver double doors
connected to form the body of a dragon, its body serpentine and
scaly. The oni at the head of the procession pushed open the doors,
and a gong sounded within, the sound of a harp falling quiet
suddenly. The oni up ahead all filed to the left and right, and
stood tall, facing forward like dutiful servants. Yumiko passed
their cold stares with her head high, taking in the throne on a
raised platform ahead. A harp stood to the right, where a human
girl, pale with dark circles under her frightened eyes sat, and
shrank back, as if willing to be forgotten by everyone in the
room.

Brian was chained by his wrists to an
iron ring set into the floor beside the throne, and the moment that
Yumiko caught his eyes, he closed his, clearly upset and
disappointed. When he opened them again, he offered her a shaky
smile that did little to comfort her. It was obvious by his
expression that he expected this to be the end, that they were
already dead.

Once she’d set eyes on Brian, she
found it hard to tear them away. He had terrible cuts over his arms
and legs, as well as one on his side. A gaping wound on his
shoulder looked painful and swollen, and bled freely, while a large
bruise was painted prominently across his forehead.

“
Master,” Ame-Onna
whispered, lowering her eyes, her voice choked.

“
God, Brian,” Reina
murmured, turning her head away from him, then sending a
sympathetic look in Yumiko’s direction.

“
There is only one master
here,” Brian said, voice booming through the room as Yumiko came to
a stop at the foot of the raised platform. Her eyes traveled up a
dozen steps, carpeted in a deep red, with stains that were slightly
darker, before she took in the throne. Then she realized that Brian
hadn’t been the one who’d spoken at all.

From behind the throne, a
figure stepped out to gaze upon them, hands behind his back, body
outfitted with gold and silver plates of armor. His arms were
covered in chainmail, but were otherwise bare, allowing a glimpse
of the muscle they boasted, and his head was free of adornment,
allowing a clear look at his visage. Yumiko was hesitant to peer
into his face, but once she did, she found it hard to look away.
She saw Brian’s face there, but it was so clearly not Brian’s that
it nearly took her aback. It was like looking into
The Picture of Dorian Gray
. Shuten-Doji wore every diabolical sin he’d ever committed on
his face. His eyes were vacant and dead, humorless. His lips were
cruel and twisted. His jaw clenched with rage and jealousy. Murder
was in the gleam of his eyes. Cruelty, in the way he held his head.
His glance was like a snake slithering over Yumiko’s skin. His
words were delivered icily, with a promise behind them of how
terribly he wanted to slowly torture her and everyone she loved.
And while he boasted the same beautiful features as Brian, how he
wore them was so ugly that Yumiko could only describe his
appearance as monstrous. He was just as ugly, features distorted
with cruelty, as the oni he commanded.

“
On your knees,”
Shuten-Doji said, eyes meeting each of the prisoners in turn before
stopping on Yumiko. “All of you. Your new master waits.”

If Shuten-Doji expected resistance, he
was disappointed. Yumiko indulged him, because she knew that he
would find a sick delight in refusal. She knelt and lowered her
head, eyes flickering backward to make sure that the others
followed her lead. They did, even though Shou did so with a scowl
on his face, refusing to bow his head.

“
You’ve already tamed them
for me,” Shuten-Doji told Oni-Baba, who climbed the stairs to meet
him. He kissed her on the lips and she wrapped an arm around his
broad shoulders, squeezing lightly.

“
There was hardly any
resistance at all,” Oni-Baba told him as she pulled back, running
her fingers over his lips intimately. “I think that without your
doppelganger, they’ve lost their strength.”

Shuten-Doji considered her words for a
moment, then nodded, turning toward Yumiko. “Hardly any surprise.
Even a copy of me must be formidable. And why should they try when
the battle is so very obviously at an end, and defeat is assured?”
He grunted, then gestured at the prisoners. “Somebody kill that
kappa. Disgusting creatures. I can’t stand the sight of
it.”

Oni-Baba threw up a hand in the
direction of the kappa, and the yokai was suddenly engulfed in
flames. A small cry of pain escaped it before it fell to the
ground. Then the room was filled with smoke.

“
How tedious,” Shuten-Doji
said, then waved a hand in front of him. The smoke seemed to grow
thicker with every passing second, until it was so dense that it
began to burn Yumiko’s eyes and she coughed.

“
Clear the air, woman,”
Shuten-Doji commanded. “You don’t know your own power.”

“
I’m…” Oni-Baba squinted
into the room, eyes suddenly narrowing.

Yumiko turned her head to see a shape
taking form in the smoke. In a flash, five oni fell forward, dead,
their armor slashed open, intestines falling to the floor. Shou,
Ame-Onna and Reina were suddenly armed with swords from the fallen
yokai, and were crossing steel with the remaining monsters. Yumiko
tried to follow the movements of the figure in the smoke, but found
it to be a blur of speed. In another moment, Yumiko found her
mirror sword sailing through the air in her direction, and she
caught it easily. A second later, the sound of metal shattering by
the throne told Yumiko that Brian had been freed. And then she saw
Enenra. The smoke cleared and his body became solid, his chest
heaving. She could have kissed him, she’d never been so happy to
see somebody in her life. The momentary confusion of the smoke
filling the room in concurrence with the fire had given him the
opportunity to surprise their adversaries, and suddenly they had a
fighting chance.

Tanuki had taken it upon himself to
close the doors, and with Reina watching his back, he was able to
secure it with various swords and scarabs, although reinforcements
rocked the huge doors. Reina wasn’t that adept with a sword
however, and only really managed to distract the oni. She was able
to dodge their attacks easily, given that she was quick and nimble,
while they were slow and bulky, but Yumiko was relieved when Tanuki
was able to focus on helping her.

Harionago was a force of nature. She
whipped her hair into the wall of oni around them and tore them to
shreds with her hair. She ripped one oni in two with a loud
triumphant howl, and tore the head clean off of another with a
terrible ripping sound. But she seemed to be more partial to
shooting out tendrils of hair and hooking her barbs into the oni’s
skin, ripping their flesh off in patches that made them cry out in
agony. A little bloody and brutal for Yumiko’s tastes, but
thankfully, Harionago was on their side, so she was going to
overlook it.

Shou and Ame-Onna made a good team,
fighting with their backs together mostly, with Shou making short
work of the oni, second only to Harionago’s bloody display. Only
when the battle seemed to be going south for Shuten-Doji did
Ame-Onna leave Shou’s side. A glance at the throne informed Yumiko
the reason for her departure, as Oni-Baba was making for a door at
the back of the room. Before the witch could slip away in the
chaos, Ame-Onna engaged her, the witch cursing as she deflected
Ame-Onna’s sword with her hand fans, twirling around in a dance of
death, robes flowing beautifully as the bladed tips
flashed.

Yumiko, meanwhile, made her way for
Shuten-Doji, as did Brian. She expertly wielded her sword, trading
blows with one oni, and then another. Brian was of a similar skill
set to Yumiko, and was on pace to reaching Shuten-Doji at the same
time.

Enenra was a graceful fighter. He
slashed at oni quickly, darting in and out between their bodies as
he dealt damage. Yumiko paused in her own battle once, startled as
an oni swung a sword at his unprotected midsection. But Enenra
hardly even registered the attack, and the oni’s sword sliced
through his body easily, but as it was only smoke, it dispersed for
a moment before recollecting. He noted Yumiko’s distress, however,
and offered her a mischievous wink before returning to the
fight.

Shuten-Doji watched the bloody battle
going on in his throne room with a detached amusement. He seemed to
enjoy the blood as it bathed the floor and walls, but that
enjoyment didn’t seem to reach his eyes. It was as if he’d truly
seen it all, and as brutal as this fight was, it was only of
passing interest. A slight entertainment. But he seemed to make his
own fun, and found satisfaction in forcing the harp player to watch
as dozens died before their eyes. She cringed and tried to look
away, but he would shake her and force her eyes on some new
atrocity.

When Yumiko killed a final oni
standing in her way of Shuten-Doji, she took steady steps in his
direction and raised her sword threateningly. “Tell your oni to
stand down,” she ordered.

Shuten-Doji sent her a patronizing
smile. “Really, girl? I can hardly believe the fuss over a little
human child such as yourself. It’s hardly good sport at all when I
know how fragile you are firsthand.” He glanced down at the girl in
front of him. “Like this.” With a quick hand, he broke the harp
player’s neck and she fell to the floor with a loud thump. He
kicked her down the stairs, and cocked his head, as if intrigued by
how her dead body rolled.

“
Damn you,” Yumiko gritted
her teeth and took a step toward him.

“
Nuh-uh-uh,” Shuten-Doji
wagged a finger at her. “Don’t you know what’s at stake here, girl?
None of this matters. Your friends, my oni – they’re all collateral
damage. Cannon fodder. What matters is the prophecy, and making
sure that it never comes to pass.”

Brian stepped up next to Yumiko and
she sent him a sideways glance. He met her eyes, a small grin
appearing on his face. He looked out of breath, and despite his
injuries, the sweat covering his face, the wild hair and tired
eyes, he was spectacularly handsome in that moment.